Nation in brief

WASHINGTON (MCT) — It likely will be several days before Utah asks the U.S. Supreme Court to stop same-sex marriages in the state, the Utah attorney general’s office said Thursday.

The state had been expected to file a petition with the court as early as Thursday in a last-ditch effort to halt the weddings that have occurred since a federal judge struck down the state’s ban on such unions last week.

But the attorney general’s website posted a notice that said outside lawyers need to be consulted before filing.

The state’s petition would go to Justice Sonia Sotomayor, who has jurisdiction over cases coming from Utah and neighboring states. She likely would refer the issue to her colleagues. There’s no deadline for the justices to make a decision, but they typically act quickly on such requests.

Texas man charged with hate crime in alleged ‘knockout game’ assault

(MCT) — A Texas man has been charged with a federal hate crime in connection with an assault of a 79-year-old black man that prosecutors allege was part of the "knockout game."

The knockout game, which has been known by a variety of names since 1992, is based on a person attacking another person, trying to knock the victim out with a single blow and usually recording the attack.

In the current case, Conrad Alvin Barrett, 27, of Katy, Texas, has been charged with a federal hate crime, the U.S. Justice Department announced Thursday.

Prosecutors allege that Barrett recorded himself on his cellphone attacking the man and showed the video to others. The complaint says Barrett made several videos, one in which he identifies himself and another in which he makes a racial slur. In addition, Barrett had been working up to playing the knockout game for approximately a week.

According to the complaint, Barrett in the video says that "the plan is to see if I were to hit a black person, would this be nationally televised?"

Ciancia, 23, appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge David Bristow during a hearing at a detention center in Rancho Cucamonga, where he is recovering from gunshot wounds he sustained in the rampage.

If convicted, Ciancia could face life in prison or the death penalty. Prosecutors have not yet said whether they will seek the death penalty. They said the decision would be made by the U.S. attorney general. A trial date was set for Feb. 11 in Los Angeles, but prosecutors said that date likely could be pushed back.

Ciancia is accused of killing TSA Officer Gerardo I. Hernandez and wounding three others during the rampage.